Rumblings xtra: Items that didn't make print edition

FormerBig Red Machine shortstop Dave Concepcion made the 12-man National Baseball Hall
of Fame ballot that will be voted on next month by the 16-member Expansion Era Veterans Committee,
but chances don’t look good for his election.

Candidates must receive 75 percent of the votes from
the 16 committee members. The ballot is stacked: former managers Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox
and Billy Martin are joined on the ballot by former Major League Baseball Players Association head
Marvin Miller and former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. The players are Concepcion, Steve
Garvey, Tommy John, Dave Parker, Dan Quisenberry and Ted Simmons.

Committee members can vote for up to five candidates,
but getting 75 percent of the vote on that ballot will be tough. The results will be announced on
Dec. 9, during the first day of the annual Winter Meetings.

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby reached out to former Blue Jackets’ captain
Rick Nash, the New York Rangers star who has been sidelined since Oct. 8 with a concussion. The New
York Post reported that Crosby, who played just eight games between Jan. 5, 2011, and March 15,
2012 because of lingering post-concussion symptoms, sent Nash a text message of support.

Crosby played with Nash on the Canadian Olympic team in
2010. He told reporters that the dissimilarities between each concussion “can definitely make it a
tough thing to go through.”

The Indians’ decision to give Jason Giambi a minor league contract and another
shot at making the club is more about his influence in the Tribe’s clubhouse, now and in the
future, than it is about his baseball ability. Giambi’s three game-winning home runs and nine total
in 186 at-bats were obviously welcome, but he was originally signed more because of his value as a
good teammate and mentor to the team’s younger players than for his on-the-field production.

Giambi’s.183 batting average was in keeping with a
player who will be 43 in January, and if he has slowed down any more, the Indians are expected to
offer him a job either as a coach, in the farm system or in the front office.

Former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith has interviewed for the Southern California
job, according to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora. Smith, whom the Bears didn’t bring back after a
10-6 season in 2012, has never been a head coach in college, but he was an assistant coach at six
schools including Ohio State (1995). Smith played for former OSU coach John Cooper at Tulsa.

Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges said that one of coach Brady Hoke’s best
attributes is that he doesn’t overreact when the team has problems. The Wolverines’ 29-6 loss to
Michigan State last Saturday revealed some problems.

"Do you want your leader to freak out?" Borges asked.
"Do you want George Patton to go crazy in the middle of a battle and get everybody killed? He
didn't do that. He had a temper, and Brady does sometimes, too. So do I. But if cooler heads
prevail at the end of the day, you can have your explosions.

"But at the end of the day, if your leader show a
leadership composure -- everyone -- if those kids look at you and say 'that guy can take us through
the bad times' then generally they recover."

Borges said that Hoke’s “as good as anyone I've ever
seen at making sure mistakes are fixed, but not dwelling on them so much that the last opponent
beats you twice. The head coach sets the tone."

The Brandon Phillips’ trade rumors are heating up. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com
reported this week that the New York Yankees have inquired about the four-time Gold Glove winning
Cincinnati second baseman, who landed on the rumor mill when Reds general manager Walt Jocketty
said last month that he couldn’t guarantee he would be back with Cincinnati next season.

The Yankees’ interest in Phillips blossomed with the
possibility that second baseman Robinson Cano won’t be back; Cano is looking for a $300 million
contract. Phillips, 32, has four years and $50 million left on his deal with the Reds, which
figures to make him difficult to trade. The Braves have also been reported to have interest in
Phillips, who batted .261 with 18 home runs and a career-high 103 RBIs.

Heyman wrote that the Yankees thought Cincinnati’s
initial asking price was “way too steep” for Phillips. They are also reportedly looking at free
agent second baseman Omar Infante. Heyman lists the Dodgers, Tigers, Royals and Orioles as other
teams looking for second basemen.

Phillips’ availability likely stems in part from an
interview with Cincinnati Magazine where he complained about how his contract negotiations were
handled. In the article, he portrayed Jocketty and Reds CEO Bob Castellini as liars.